Topic: Mike Neighbors

Washington coach Mike Neighbors was certain about one thing when he booked Oklahoma for the season-opener Friday: “We’re going to come back better.” Neighbors coached a solid game against OU coach Sherri Coale. But the latter ended up winning her 400th career game, 90-80. And the former picked up two glaring things about his team….

The early signing period opened Wednesday for student-athletes. Ingelmoor HS star Deja Strother made her verbal commitment official, signing a national letter of intent to play for Washington. Strother is a 6-5 post player, ranked as the No. 35 overall by Prospects Nation. She is also the No. 49 prospect by All-Star Girls Basketball Report. She…

According to multiple reports, Idaho star Destiny Slocum gave a verbal commitment to Washington on Monday. Under NCAA rules, UW can’t confirm any reports. ESPNW has the 5-foot-7 PG ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the HoopGurlz Super 60 for the 2016 class. Slocum’s a Mountain View (Meridian, Idaho) junior who also considered…

Washington coach Mike Neighbors took to his Instagram account to announce the 2014-15 nonconference schedule. The second-year coach used Twitter to make his announcement last season, sitting in an airport to give comments about each opponent. Below is the UW lineup in traditional form. One highlight is the return of legendary UW coach…

If Adia Barnes appeared ticked during the Storm broadcast on Thursday, call her ticked for charity. Barnes, an assistant coach at Washington, was part of a social media wave where women’s basketball programs have been calling each other out to get cold water dumped on them in a fun way to donate to the…

In the shadow of the WNBA, a lot has happened on the local college scene. I’m sure you heard about Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves accepting an offer for a similar position at Oregon. Well, he’s rounded out his staff, including Storm F Nicole Powell as an assistant. Graves’ replacement at GU,…

The Final Four festivities are kicking off in Nashville. Washington coach Mike Neighbors is among the throng in attendance, staying true to his reputation as one of the more vibrant coaches at the event. His weekend started with hitting the stage with his guitar to play some country tunes and he’ll be honored Monday…

Washington coach Mike Neighbors led the Huskies to a third consecutive 20-win season and postseason berth, playing at UTEP on Monday in the WNIT quarterfinals. Neighbors led UW to upsets against No. 6 Stanford and No. 24 California in his first season of continuing the overhaul to return Washington (20-13) to a…

Washington coach Mike Neighbors said he received plenty of text messages and phone calls immediately after Arkansas coach Tom Collen was fired on Friday. An Arkansas native, Neighbors said he hasn’t been contacted about the position despite his obvious connections to the school. When Neighbors was asked prior to practice Wednesday if he’d…

Day 1 of Washington coach Mike Neighbors new plan to get the Huskies playing better started Tuesday. A first-year head coach at the college level, Neighbors is testing one of his favorite quotes by Albert Einstein, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

So, now UW practices one day a week. Sounds insane. But as Neighbors explained, the team was getting about one practice in anyway, only it wasn’t everybody at the same time due to multiple injuries. On Tuesday players go through individual workouts, on Wednesdays, everyone who can play in the weekend’s games will participate in a traditional practice and Thursdays will be more focused on Friday’s opponent. Off-days are Mondays.

“We can’t improve because we can’t practice,” Neighbors said Tuesday. “It wasn’t ever going to get better the way we were doing it.”

Washington (8-7, 1-3 Pac-12) is on a three-game losing streak, creating a must-win scenario against Utah on Friday at Alaska Airlines Arena. UW faces its third ranked team of the season in No. 21 Colorado on Sunday. Washington lost to then-No. 23 Texas A&M (74-68) in December and then-No. 24 Arizona State (78-60) earlier this month.

About Women’s Hoops

Jayda Evans covers college and pro women's basketball. She'll offer observations, critiques, occasional off-beat tales and answers to select e-mail inquires. Evans also has written a book on the Storm and women's hoops, called "Game On!" You can email Jayda or follow her on Twitter.